Steam
by Hanae da Firefly
Summary: Part 2 of the Patisserie L'amour arc. Now that he knew why he kept returning to the bakery, he was determined on making himself comfortable. No matter how uncomfortable the situation was. [CL, LC] Sora as a pastry chef. Fluffy. Yaoi challenge inside.


**Steam**

stēam: _a mist of cooling water vapour; used to effectively retain a food's texture, flavour and shape_

It was a hot, lazy afternoon. There were more cars than people on the streets, the sidewalk more deserted than usual. Time was rolling by slowly, probably due to the afternoon heat. The rain clouds had begun to dissipate, leaving blue skies in its wake. Monsoon season was gradually withdrawing and the light evening drizzles were diminishing with each passing day.

Cloud looked on silently at the brunette, a mild expression on his face. He was leaning back on the counter behind the cash register, half seated as the bakery employee replaced trays from the display case. The dim lights brought out a somewhat languid air inside Gainsborough's, Cloud's eyes lazily half-lidded with a miniscule curl at the edge of his lips as he eyed Leon's slender figure.

Leon noticed Cloud's slight yawn as stood up and set the tray to a side. He let a hand rest on a hip, a brow raised acerbically in the blonde's general direction. Cloud merely tilted his head to a side, a playfully suggestive twinkle in his eyes as he smiled his ghost smile.

"Yes?'

Cloud leaned back slightly, his head inclining in the direction of the glass display case.

"Looks new."

Unable to suppress a small smile, Leon snorted, walking over to the case and taking out a small piece of pastry.

"Charlotte aux poires. It's a Bavarois-style cake with western pears."

Cloud blinked.

"Bavarois?"

"Bavarois is the French name for Bavarian cream. It has a crème Anglaise base made from either milk, cream or a fruit puree and then aerated with whipped cream and whipped egg whites before being set in the refrigerator with gelatine," Leon explained patiently, his miniscule smile unwavering as he stepped towards the blond.

Cloud eyed the slice of cake on the plate in the taller man's hand.

It looked _good_.

A light chink sounded as the plate was set down beside the blond, Leon resting his hands by Cloud's sides on the counter and leaning in close enough for their noses to touch.

He bent forward, lashes lowering slightly as he gazed at the blond. Cloud had impishly curled a leg around Leon's, gently nudging him forward and rubbing his calf sensuously slow. A hand was busy stroking a small expanse of skin of the brunette's stomach that had become exposed as his shirt lifted. He ran his fingers across firm, toned abs, lightly brushing the ridges of his ribs.

"Hmm. . . you smell like sugar and flour. . ."

A snort.

"It's hard not to, since I work in a kitchen 10 hours a day."

Cloud chuckled softly, withdrawing his hand and threading it in Leon's shaggy hair, gripping the back of his head and pulling him closer. As their lips brushed, Leon abruptly had a hand up to Cloud's chest, pushing back slightly. He had straightened up, turning to look out the window. An impatient expression crossed the blonde's features as he frowned.

"The new kid's coming."

Cloud realised long ago that the brunette had unusually perceptive hearing (this coming more from experience during their occasional (raunchy) nights out) and heaved a sigh. There was no winning this time round, and he pushed himself off the counter in resignation. As he made his way back to the dining area past the low swinging door by the register, a hot hand grasped his wrist and squeezed slightly. He was pulled back and felt Leon's body gently against his, warmth spreading throughout his skin.

There was a soft murmur of promise – "Afterwards" – as a soft kiss was pressed against his temple.

As swiftly as they had touched, Leon let go; returning to his place behind the cash register.

Sure enough, a loud, bubbly voice rang through the air; slightly muffled but clear enough for them to know that he was laughing and cheering goodbyes. Quick footsteps – running – flew by and the youth skidded a little past the entrance, forced to backtrack.

The bell rung gently.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late. Traffic was pretty crazy."

Leon nodded slightly in the newcomer's direction.

"Oh, Cloud! Hey, nice to see you again. You'll want the usual, right?"

The blond nodded, coolly walking to his table and taking a seat. The boy had already half-jogged past the counter, quickly disappearing into the kitchen and reappearing shortly after in a pastry chef's uniform. In his hand was a plate of hot scones and sandwiches; presented in a very pretty manner as he carefully placed it on the table.

Cloud reached a hand out and ruffled his hair in a fond manner before nodding, as though approving the dish that had been served. The boy beamed.

"Sora, I could've served the meal fine by myself," a baritone voice said reproachfully as Leon appeared by the youth's side, a blend and a plate of charlotte aux poires in hand.

Sora gave his senior worker a sheepish grin.

"He's the only customer today – _as usual_ – anyway. 'Sides, it gets boring in there after a while. At least you get to talk to the customers," he explained with a very factual tone. Cloud allowed a tiny, amused smile as he sipped his blend.

"Where's Aerith anyhow?"

"She's taken two weeks off, remember?"

"Oh! Oh, right. Gah, that means I'll be by myself in the kitchen. . . You sure you can't do the baking instead? It's not like you _mind_ being by yourself every other day, anyways."

Leon shook his head a little – condescendingly – muttering something about asinine idiots and returned to the counter. Sora sighed helplessly, shrugging in Cloud's direction as a silly grin played on his lips. The blond merely eyed the young boy silently.

After a moment, Sora had plodded back into the kitchen. Loud noises followed suit, the young boy obviously tinkering with pots and pans as delectable smells wafted through the air. Leon was drumming his fingers absentmindedly on the counter, his gaze drifting from the window to the blond who was relaxing in his seat, looking up at him with raised eyebrows.

_Inviting_ raised eyebrows.

Leon smirked slightly, crossing his arms as he leaned back onto a wall. He looked on, amused, as Cloud gave him a pointed look. Tempted as he was to walk up to the blond and continue what had been left hanging earlier, a customer was already at the take-out stand and asking for him. Cloud frowned as the brunette turned away, feeling a little twinge of heat rise in his chest.

He sighed softly, sipping on his blend and spooning the last of his lunch into his mouth as he gazed out the glass wall at the passing cars. Passers-by were trickling to a near halt, though the bakery seemed to have quite a few customers due to their increase of chilled desserts.

Suddenly remembering the plate of cake, Cloud set down his cup and risked a taste.

It had a smooth, mild flavour – reminiscent to vanilla – and the pastry had a crisp, well-defined texture. The pears inside were caramelised to an intense sweetness, offsetting the bland taste of the Bavarois. Licking his lips of crumbs, he savoured the lingering saccharine taste and drank it down with his blend, finding that the dish was a perfect balance of flavours.

A figure hovered by him momentarily, lightly picking up the plate he ate his lunch off earlier. His eyes darted upwards, capturing intense grey eyes for a drawn-out gaze. He could feel the brunette's eyes smile as his index finger absentmindedly stroked the damp mouth of the cup he held in both hands. Leon's eyes shifted sideways momentarily before he bent down, his warm breath caressing Cloud's skin. Allowing his eyes to droop low, he felt a sudden draft as the bakery employee withdrew from the would-be kiss to stand and turn to look at the young brunette whose head was currently poking out from the kitchen entrance.

"Hey, Leon. I can't seem to roll the Bûche de Noël without it splitting and crumbling on me."

Leon nodded, picking up Cloud's plate and bringing it with him to the kitchen.

Cloud's eyes narrowed in the general direction of Sora and Leon, but resigned himself to just sighing as he leaned back into his seat, his cup set down on the small table.

Time ticked by unbearably tortoise-like. He raised his gaze to the whitewashed ceilings, staring up at the cracks in the paint. He spent a couple of hours doing just that, occasionally lowering his eyes to look at the brunette and perhaps invite him over yet again, but somehow, he always managed to have something else to do.

As the heat burned into the dusty sidewalk, Cloud noticed Sora stepping out of the kitchen once in a while; more often than not engaging Leon in some doubtlessly meaningful exchange. He frowned as he noticed the affectionate twinkle in those deep grey eyes whenever they turned to regard the young boy, feeling a little undermined.

Aerith had been absent for about 4 days already. Sora was the only other personnel to be on active duty in the kitchen. It didn't help that he was only an apprentice, and so Leon had been spending the entire day showing him proper techniques to bake pastries. Cloud sighed softly as his eyes followed Leon's lean body, the man pointing out something or the other about a cake that Sora was making on the counter behind the cash register.

Cloud made it a daily routine to stop by the bakery, and they spent an ample amount of time together. In the evening, Cloud would take his leave and continue his work; returning sometime later on at night for a cup of coffee. He usually arrived when Leon was cleaning the place – closing up for the day – before he was officially off-duty. They would take quiet walks towards their apartments in the city, parting ways at a certain junction.

Intermittently, Leon would pull him into a room (the kitchen, usually. The janitor's closet a few times) and they would make sweet, passionate love in the bakery. Never a romantic exchange was muttered – Cloud would have liked to have thought that it wasn't needed – but their excursions almost always ended with soft sighs and whispered kisses before they cleaned up their mess together.

And _then_ they took their walk and separated; only with an even fonder gaze and an affectionate squeeze of the hand from the man before Leon trudged down a dimly lit alley.

A small, guilty smile slipped out as he recalled their various excursions in the patisserie. He couldn't help but feel a little culpable for. . . _desecrating_ such a decent place. Sometimes, Cloud wondered if the lack of customers at Gainsborough's were a result of a few stray noises (usually in their throes of passion) sometime during their rare after-hours frivolities. Amused by such a notion, Cloud didn't bother suppressing the small smile that crossed his features as he rested his face onto his wrists, staring out of the building at a young man who was bending over to tie his shoe laces.

Feeling a pair of eyes frown on him, he decided not to bother and proceeded to wave in return at the youth who had looked up and flashed him a sheepish grin and a slight wave.

The teen looked up at the signage hanging over the entrance, hesitating slightly before making his way into the cool building. He looked around, no doubt the scent of freshly baked cookies catching his attention. He smiled at Cloud, nodding a little before turning for the counter and asking a frowning Leon about purchasing the source of the aroma. There was a low exchange between them, Leon keeping his tone polite as money was traded for confections.

As the bell gently rung, marking the customer's exit, Leon trained his frown on the blond who was lazily stirring his blend with a glazed look.

Cloud noticed, but didn't show it. Rather, he yawned uncaringly, turning to look outside yet again. Leon remained where he stood, his brows brought together deep in thought. Cloud was waiting for Leon to come by and sit as he usually did, and then perhaps they would finally have a moment to themselves. That was one of the only reasons he had been sitting in the bakery for the past 5 hours, after all.

Just then, Sora popped out of the kitchen again, a plate in hand.

"Ah, I tried making the strawberry-and-white-chocolate mousse, but I need a taste tester. Lend me a hand?"

Leon turned to him, allowing a small flicker of a smile that didn't go unnoticed by the blond. Nodding, the brunette accepted the fork Sora offered him and took a bite of the dessert. He chewed on the confectionery solicitously, savouring the flavour and swallowing before returning the silverware to the anxious young apprentice pastry chef.

"The flavour of the strawberries isn't that strong. You should freeze them beforehand so that more of the essence seeps out when making the compote. Also, the sponge cake at the base doesn't absorb as much of the syrup because the flour is too fine," he noted after a moment. Sora, a little wide eyed, nodded as he took mental notes. He hurried back to the kitchen.

A touch peeved after being continuously ignored throughout the day, Cloud finished his drink in a gulp and walked over to the counter, hands jammed in his pockets. Leon's eyes had been amusedly following the young boy, a tender expression on his face. He noticed the blond from the corner of his eye and turned to face him, his lips twisted into a slight frown.

Off-put, Cloud tightened his lips to form a thin line, his brows furrowed.

There was a limit to his patience, after all. Of all the people he knew, why did _Leon_ have to be the one to constantly completely run down the bar?

"Well?" Cloud asked, his tone tinged with something along the lines of mild irritation.

"What?" Leon countered, his frown deepening slightly.

That earned him a hard look from the blond.

"Perhaps you realise that I'm _working_," the brunette replied a little hotly.

Rolling his eyes in response, Cloud dug around in his pocket as his cell phone rang. He flipped it open, bringing it to his ear. His brows furrowed further as he listened to the voice on the other end of the line, his eyes narrowing very slightly.

"Yes, sir, but I'm afraid that isn't possible."

He frowned, nodding absentmindedly as the other man spoke with an urgent tone. After a moment, Cloud exhaled slowly and shifted his weight to his other foot, making small reaffirming sounds as the man went on.

"It's a day off for Strife Delivery Service, so I'm afraid. . ."

Cloud trailed off, his eyes darting up towards the brunette, noticing the blank and faintly taken aback look on his face, before sighing in resignation.

"You know what? I'll make the delivery. It turns out I have nothing else scheduled for the day," he said heavily into the mouthpiece, earning a few relieved utterances of thanks from the client before hanging up, pocketing the phone and fumbling around for some change. As his eyes shifted to the cash register's display screen, he managed to catch the vacant expression on Leon's face once more before decidedly ignoring it and dropping two $20 bills for the $26.50 he was due.

Slouching over slightly, Cloud stiffly trudged out of the bakery.

He swore to himself that as intelligent and acerbic as the brunette was, Leon could be a _complete idiot_ sometimes.

* * *

The sun was already sinking low in the sky when Cloud decided to finally decline any other jobs and turn in for the day. It was dim – to an extent, gloomy – with half the streets covered in a light veil of darkness.

Cloud sighed softly, bringing his gaze up to the evening sky and closing his eyes, enjoying a minute cool breeze that was blowing. It was comfort, even for a moment, to be able to experience something small and simple like that. . . among others.

With Aerith out of the picture, he had been hoping to be able to at least share a little privacy with the silent man. When Sora decided to work at the bakery, it had been fine with him since it was clear that he was a bright kid. Everything was instantly thrown out the window once he realised that Leon was too busy ignoring him so that he could build up an apparent fixation on the bubbly young boy, though; momentarily, to show him the ropes and whatnot since Aerith wasn't around. For about 4 days already now. Huh.

Running a hand through his hair, he decided to stop thinking about it and dropped his motorcycle's keys into his pocket as he walked up the creaky stairs of the apartment building. He wasn't feeling too sleepy; perhaps he would drink some coffee and read a book until he did.

He walked up the stairs and along the corridors mindlessly until he found himself being blocked by a particularly striking figure.

Cloud stared at a tall brunette who was wearing a beige trench coat over his clothes, a plastic bag dangling from his hand as a look – a cross of – familiarity and relief crossed his features, reflected in his deep grey eyes.

Cloud merely arched a brow.

Leon averted his gaze very slightly, hesitantly.

". . . you said the apartment around 3rd Street."

Unable to suppress the small amused smile on his face, Cloud relaxed and felt around for his apartment keys in his pocket.

"I didn't exactly say where, you know."

Leon shrugged slightly, stepping towards the blond.

"Don't tell me you were going to wander around from apartment to apartment looking for me."

Leon halted directly in front of Cloud, his head titled slightly as he looked into his blue eyes.

"That was the plan, yes."

Chuckling softly, Cloud gestured for the stairs and they walked together in a companionable silence as they climbed about three more flights. Cloud unlocked the door, motioning for the brunette to enter ahead of him.

Leon eyed the apartment as Cloud flicked the light switch on.

It wasn't very big, and there were a lot of books and magazines piled and stuffed about. The furniture was squashy and earthly in colour. It was, really, a very comfortable home. Leon had initially imagined something more adolescent in taste, but he found himself preferring this epitome of maturity that was reflected in Cloud's home.

The blond had already walked to the kitchen, his coat thrown on a chair by the sofa. Pausing a moment, Leon took his own coat off and went to Cloud, lifting the plastic bag he had been carrying with a slightly unsure expression. The smaller man who had been making a pot of coffee glanced up, noticing the Gainsborough's logo on the bag and relieving the brunette of his burden. He gestured towards the sofa, meaning for Leon to take a seat as he prepared some form of refreshments for them.

As he poured coffee into two mugs, the lights in the apartment flickered and with a loud whirr and the entire apartment went dark; a deathly stillness washing over broken only by their breathing and a few muffled groans that resounded throughout the building.

Silently, Cloud's gaze drifted to the brunette on his couch who was looking up at the ceiling lamp thoughtfully. He brought the coffee and pastry to the living room, setting them down onto the coffee table haphazardly, causing Leon to look at him with a sardonic expression. Smirking slightly, Cloud shrugged it off and made for his bedroom, reappearing moments later with a large comforter wadded up in his hands.

He threw it towards Leon, sliding onto the couch beside him and reaching out for his mug. Noticing the trite expression on Leon's face, he allowed a small smile as he leaned back into his seat.

"It gets horribly cold at night. Most of my cash goes into maintaining my heater," he explained lightly, sipping his coffee. He pulled at the comforter so that it was covering both of them, though they had to shift closer together for it to cover both of them somewhat completely. Their legs stuck out slightly from underneath it.

"S'a little small," he muttered in explanation, spearing the pastry on the table with a fork and bringing it to his lips. It had a sweet, fruit-like flavour to it. Something spicy could be tasted, but it enhanced the smooth taste of clotted cream that made up the filling of the confection.

Nodding silently, Leon took his own mug and drank from it. Unconsciously, they had twined each others legs together to steal some extra heat, sides pushed up against each other to share the warmth between them as an hour or so went by in silence. As time passed, Cloud found that he and Leon were leaning against each other, the brunette's hand somehow finding its way around his waist.

He set down his mug and was refilling it with coffee from the pot on the small table when he felt Leon pulling him onto his lap, his arm draped loosely around his waist. His other hand was idly stroking the blonde's cheek, slender fingers brushing against his dry lips before licking them and leaning close for a deep, meaningfully tender kiss.

Cloud's eyes immediately fluttered closed, tilting his head at a slight angle and probing Leon's mouth with his wet tongue. The man smelled like sugar and flour. . . but he tasted more exotic. Something richer, and more masculine. He had initially imagined that the taste was something of the bitter biscotti that the brunette had an acquired taste for, but as he was allowed to delve even deeper into Leon's mouth, he found that it was closer to that of ginger. . . perhaps turmeric.

Leon's hand was underneath his shirt, sliding across his smooth back. His hands were cold against Cloud's hot body, growing steadily hotter as the kiss deepened into something more raw and demanding. Just then, Leon slowed down the pace, running his tongue along Cloud's and resuming the tenderness. His hand was stroking Cloud's back again, the difference in temperature of their touch causing the blond to shiver very slightly and pull even closer.

They parted with a soft, wet sound as Leon sighed, content. Cloud buried his head into Leon's shoulder, his hands loosely wrapped around the taller man's neck. He felt warm, wet kisses planted along the side of his throat and down to the fleshy area between his collarbone and shoulder as his shirt slipped slightly, the cold air chilling his exposed skin.

"Staying over?" he asked breathily, allowing Leon to pull him down onto the couch and into his embrace. He felt cool hands wrap around him loosely, his back pressed up against the taller man's chest. Leon's face was settled comfortably in the crook of his neck, his breath prickling at his skin. The comforter was pulled up again, wrapped securely around them though their feet stuck out slightly.

Cloud's eyes drooped sleepily, watching moonlight stream in through the windows and steam from their coffee rise and dissipate in the air, crumbs from the pastry littering the edge of the coffee table and part of the floor. His phone rang but he switched it off and didn't bother retrieving it when it slipped to the carpet.

As waves of sleep washed over him, he felt Leon's hands fumbling with the buttons of his shirt. ". . . I realise that I don't even have your number. . ." he murmured softly, causing Cloud to smile before rolling over and pulling Leon down for another kiss.

* * *

**A/N:** I had a little fun with this? Anyways, I have decided to turn these bakery oneshots into an arc, **Patisserie L'amour**, if you will. The theme song is '_Forever Love_' by Wang Leehom. To get the song (and lyrics), go to gmail and sign in as hanaedf, password is musicmania. I trust everyone not to misuse that email. Eventhough the song is in Chinese, I couldn't help but feel that it was impeccably suited for the arc. I've also decided to add challenges to the end of every part. How many parts are there? I have no idea. Leaves a world of promise, doesn't it? Lol. And, by the way, drinking too much coffee makes you sleepy.

I find myself sappy and in the dire need of fluff. Damn, and I still need to work on my other fics too. Grrr. Special thanks to my behluved Sam-chan for lending me **Antique Bakery** volume 2! XDD

This is for **Sorceress Fantasia**. And she wanted specifically a make out scene. I hope you enjoyed this. :D

Sora! Sora is finally in the fic! Wheeee, my first attempt at a Sora, I hope it was all okay. . . There is more info about this arc in my profile.

Impending RS? Why the hell not, eh? XD

Onto the challenge! (Rated T or M.)

Conditions:

1. 3rd person, doesn't matter whoever-centric so long as it isn't Leon, ya?

2. The title, as usual, food/cooking related.

3. I'm not gonna give you an ending or whatever, but I _will_ give you certain guidelines this time around. We want Sora! as the crowd cheers. Write about how Sora stumbles upon the bakery and decides to apply for a part time job as an apprentice pastry chef (classes in the morning, so he gets the afternoon shift and leaves sometime in the evening, before Leon). He notices that Cloud is the only other customer who sits in loyally time after time. Leon and Cloud have a small tiff and they are on really strained terms. Sora gets exasperated and attempts to smoothen out their relationship (which he still doesn't know is more than that of friendship) but fails time after time. (He probably whips up food, but that's up to you.) Finally, he returns to the bakery sometime at night (as he's left something earlier in the evening) and stumbles across straaaaange sounds. He doesn't know that it's Leon and Cloud, though, mind you. You may write a smut scene if you so wish.

Right, there's the gist of it. Just PM me with the link to your challenge entry (and even fan art -- if so, you do not have to follow the guidelines) and I will post it up in my profile. I already have a few takers; hope to see more.

This is all for the _CLC Campaign_. We must raise the CLC fic count together!

Review!


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